The scheduling oddity is the result of a scary development in Adirondack's last visit to Springfield, Feb. 17.

The Phantoms were leading 2-1 late in the second period when Springfield forward Wade MacLeod collapsed to the ice and suffered a seizure. It happened approximately 20 seconds after his head hit the glass when he was hit by Phantoms defenseman Brandon Manning, who was given a boarding penalty.

MacLeod was rushed to a local hospital, where doctors later found a benign mass on his brain, and officials from both teams and the AHL made the decision to postpone the rest of the game until Friday. The Phantoms were scheduled to visit Springfield regardless, so it was the logical option.

Teams will begin the remaining 23:42 of the suspended game where they left off, with Springfield down 2-1 and heading to a power play, at 6 p.m. They'll play the regularly scheduled, 60-minute game at 7:30 p.m.

"I'm sure some of the momentum is going to carry into that second game," said Ford, who has resumed skating after having knee surgery earlier this month and could play. "Having a 2-1 lead, guys are going to have to come out right away and play the right way. Hopefully it just follows into that doubleheader."

It is rare for a hockey team to complete two games on the same day, but it is equally uncommon for two teams to not finish a game they started. As fate would have it, Ford has some experience in that field.

He played in one of the few AHL games in recent memory to have been suspended and completed at a later date, a March 21, 2009, contest between his Lake Erie Monsters and the San Antonio Rampage.

The Monsters painted their home arena's ice pink as part of a promotion for breast cancer awareness, as Ford tells it, but they did not put enough ice over the layer of pink paint.

By the time the teams returned to the locker room for intermission, Ford said, the top layer of ice was completely gone. The two teams were essentially skating on paint, which raised injury concerns.

"Guys were concerned going for races for the pucks in the corners," Ford said.

The ice crews tried to fix the problem by scraping the pink paint off during the first intermission, to get down to the original, thicker surface that had been painted over.

They could not, however, and the decision was made to suspend the game then and play the final two periods at a later date.

"You don't want to see injuries," Ford said. "I think the refs talked it out with the coaches, probably similar to the situation in Springfield. They want to continue the game, but obviously, for whatever reason, it's not the right thing to do."

The situation created some scheduling issues for the two teams.

The Rampage were scheduled to make their final to visit of the season to Cleveland five days after that game, but the teams did not work out a doubleheader.

"They had to fly San Antonio back into Cleveland on a random day and play two periods," Ford said.

Though that game started at the Quicken Loans Arena, which can hold more than 20,500 people for Cleveland Cavaliers basketball games, the teams completed it at Hoover Arena, the Monsters' practice facility. Ford said it would have been like playing a professional game at Glens Falls Recreation Center.

The winger, however, could not exactly vouch for that first-hand.

The Monsters released him from his try-out contract three days after the pink ice game, and he went back to the ECHL. When the Rampage returned to finish the game on April 6, the Monsters put another player in the line-up in Ford's spot. He was one of nine total players who started that game but did not finish it.

"It was disappointing because I was (minus)-1 in the first period," Ford said with a laugh. "I think player safety comes first."

Phantoms coach Terry Murray said the same line-up rules will apply for this suspended game. As an example, newly-acquired center Mitch Wahl, who wasn't even with the Phantoms Feb. 17, will be eligible to skate. Strange as it is, the Phantoms will take the doubleheader over a four-hour bus trip for a 23-minute game any day.

"It is what it is," Murray said. "You have to come out ready to play, that's all. You have to have a real good first shift, everyone, and make sure you're focused on the game. Penalty killers, especially. Then you get that intermission and come back and finish the third period. It'll be a good test for these guys."